Sustainability Transformations, Social

Transitions and Environmental

Accountabilities Beth Edmondson
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/sustainability-transformations-social-transitions-and-e
nvironmental-accountabilities-beth-edmondson/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Development, Social Change and Environmental

Sustainability 1st Edition Sumarmi

https://ebookmeta.com/product/development-social-change-and-
environmental-sustainability-1st-edition-sumarmi/

An Introduction to Sustainability Environmental Social

and Personal Perspectives 2nd Edition Martin Mulligan

https://ebookmeta.com/product/an-introduction-to-sustainability-
environmental-social-and-personal-perspectives-2nd-edition-
martin-mulligan/

Rethinking the Green State Environmental Governance

Towards Climate and Sustainability Transitions 1st
Edition Karin Bäckstrand Editor Annica Kronsell Editor

https://ebookmeta.com/product/rethinking-the-green-state-
environmental-governance-towards-climate-and-sustainability-
transitions-1st-edition-karin-backstrand-editor-annica-kronsell-
editor/

Sustainability Prospects for Autonomous Vehicles

Environmental Social and Urban 1st Edition George T.
Martin

https://ebookmeta.com/product/sustainability-prospects-for-
autonomous-vehicles-environmental-social-and-urban-1st-edition-
george-t-martin/
Environmental Technology and Sustainability: Physical,
Chemical and Biological Technologies for Environmental
Protection Tamara Tatrishvili

https://ebookmeta.com/product/environmental-technology-and-
sustainability-physical-chemical-and-biological-technologies-for-
environmental-protection-tamara-tatrishvili/

Smart Cities: Critical Debates on Big Data, Urban

Development and Social Environmental Sustainability 1st
Edition Taylor & Francis Group

https://ebookmeta.com/product/smart-cities-critical-debates-on-
big-data-urban-development-and-social-environmental-
sustainability-1st-edition-taylor-francis-group/

Environmental Science and Sustainability 1st Edition

Daniel J. Sherman

https://ebookmeta.com/product/environmental-science-and-
sustainability-1st-edition-daniel-j-sherman/

Sustainability and Environmental Decision Making

Sustainable Development Euston Quah

https://ebookmeta.com/product/sustainability-and-environmental-
decision-making-sustainable-development-euston-quah/

Education and Masculinities Social cultural and global

transformations 1st Edition Chris Haywood

https://ebookmeta.com/product/education-and-masculinities-social-
cultural-and-global-transformations-1st-edition-chris-haywood/
PALGRAVE STUDIES IN
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATION,
TRANSITION AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Sustainability
Transformations,
Social Transitions
and Environmental
Accountabilities

Edited by
Beth Edmondson
 Palgrave Studies in Environmental
Transformation, Transition and Accountability

Series Editor
Beth Edmondson, School of Arts, Federation University,
VIC, Australia
The monographs and edited collections published in this series will
be unified by interdisciplinary scholarship that considers and interro-
gates new knowledge of opportunities for sustainable human societies
through environmental transformations, transitions and accountabilities.
These publications will integrate theoretical debates and perspectives
in the natural and social sciences with sustained and detailed analysis
of local, regional and international initiatives responding to environ-
mentally driven imperatives such as climate change, fresh water, energy
resources, food security, and biodiversity.
 Beth Edmondson
Editor

Sustainability
Transformations,
Social Transitions
and Environmental
Accountabilities
Editor
Beth Edmondson
Trafalgar, VIC, Australia

ISSN 2523-8183 ISSN 2523-8191 (electronic)

Palgrave Studies in Environmental Transformation, Transition and Accountability
ISBN 978-3-031-18267-9 ISBN 978-3-031-18268-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18268-6

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2023
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,
whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation,
reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other
physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer
software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in
this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher
nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material
contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains
neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Cover illustration: © Diephosi/gettyimages

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland
AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Acknowledgements

This book began with a conversation and generously proffered ideas.

Bringing it to publication has provided repeated reminders that appar-
ently serendipitous events and interactions can bring new ideas and
opportunities. While writing, authors and their loved ones have expe-
rienced a host of challenges, disruptions, losses and joys. Some have
experienced long periods of isolation from loved ones. Some have found
themselves writing in hotel rooms for months-long periods—unexpect-
edly caught in transit between their established and new homes. Some
have welcomed new children into their families. Some have buried
loved ones. Some have experienced horrible health challenges. I am both
grateful for and admiring of their determined contributions. There are
a great many reasons to feel optimistic about the future when new
knowledge is so readily shared. It is because of their work, integrity and
grace that this book brings hopes and visions for the future, with due
acknowledgement of current and continuing challenges.

v
vi Acknowledgements

Funding Support Acknowledgements

The research that underpins Chapter 4, Nature, Democracy and Sustain-
able Urban Transformations, is part of a project that received funding
from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation
Programme under Grant Agreement No 730426.
The research that is considered in Chapter 6, Accountable Solar
Energy Transitions in Financially Constrained Contexts, was funded by
the Research Council of Norway, project number 314022, project name
ASSET (Accountable Solar Energy Transitions).

Beth Edmondson
 Contents

1 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions

and Environmental Accountabilities: Past and Present
Entanglements 1
Beth Edmondson
2 Evaluating Transformation Means Transforming
Evaluation 15
Michael Quinn Patton
3 The Net-Negative Ethic: Rationalisation and National
Carbon Footprint Programs 39
David Foord
4 Nature, Democracy, and Sustainable Urban
Transformations 79
Sarah Clement and Ian C. Mell
5 Sustainability Transformations and Environmental
Accountability 121
Beth Edmondson

vii
viii Contents

6 Accountable Solar Energy Transitions in Financially

Constrained Contexts 141
Siddharth Sareen, Shayan Shokrgozar,
Renée Neven-Scharnigg, Bérénice Girard, Abigail Martin,
and Steven A. Wolf
7 Overcoming Segregation Problematics
for Environmentally Accountable and Transformative
Policy in a Changing Climate: The Case of Australia’s
EPBC Act 167
Josephine Mummery and Jane Mummery
8 Accountable Environmental Outcomes: Bridging
Disciplinary Traditions on Collaborative Governance,
Coproduction, and Comanagement for Organising
Just and Effective Sustainability Transformations 197
Candice Carr Kelman
9 Navigating Local Pathways to Sustainability Through
Environmental Stewardship: A Case Study in East
Gippsland, Australia 231
Patrick Bonney, Jessica Reeves, and The Community of
Bung Yarnda
10 Tackling the Environmental and Climate Footprint
of Food Systems: How “Transformative” Is the EU’s
Farm to Fork Strategy? 265
Charlene Marek and Jale Tosun
11 Just Transitions in the Context of Urgent Climate
Action 299
Lars Coenen and Bruce Wilson
12 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions
and Environmental Accountabilities: Emerging
Opportunities 327
Beth Edmondson

Index 333
 Notes on Contributors

Bonney Patrick is a Research Fellow within the Research and Innovation

Capability at RMIT University. His research is located at the intersection
of science, society and environment, with current interest in exploring
the scientific and democratic prospects of citizen science and place-based
research in environmental governance.
Carr Kelman Candice studies collaborative approaches to solving
sustainability problems. Collaborative governance, actionable science,
knowledge coproduction, and community-based conservation are her
key areas of interest. She is clinical faculty at the School of Sustain-
ability at Arizona State University, where she also conducts grant-funded
research through the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes.
Clement Sarah is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western
Australia. Her research has two main streams: (1) governance in the
Anthropocene, particularly with respect to biodiversity, climate change
and wildfire, and (2) how the use of nature-based solutions can support
efforts to address social-ecological challenges.

ix
x Notes on Contributors

Coenen Lars is Professor in Innovation and Sustainability Transitions.

His research interests converge around the geography of innovation,
in particular related to urgent societal challenges and missions such as
climate change. From 2017 to 2020, he has been the inaugural ‘City of
Melbourne Chair of Resilient Cities’, at the University of Melbourne,
Australia.
Edmondson Beth is an Independent Researcher based in Australia. Her
research focuses on international responses to global climate change, the
possibilities for order in the international political system, the nature
of sovereign states and the scope of international law in constructing
governmental capacities.
Foord David is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Management at
the University of New Brunswick. He conducts research in science and
technologies studies, history of science and technology-based industries,
and management of technology and innovation.
Girard Bérénice is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Media
and Social Sciences at the University of Stavanger. She defended her
Ph.D. in Sociology in 2019 at the EHESS Paris. Her current research
focuses on the role of small and medium enterprises in shaping energy
transitions at different scales.
Marek Charlene has been a Scientific Researcher at the Institute of Polit-
ical Science at the University of Heidelberg since November 2020. Her
research interests currently focus on the governance and regulation of
agriculture, food and environment. Her doctoral dissertation analyses the
role of states and civil society in increasing organic agriculture worldwide.
Martin Abigail is Research Fellow in Just Transitions at the University
of Sussex and visiting faculty at University of California-Berkeley and
University of Stavanger. Her research examines the political economy,
political ecology and environmental governance of energy transitions,
with a focus on biofuels, unconventional hydrocarbons and solar PV.
Mell Ian C. is a Reader in Environmental & Landscape Planning at
the University of Manchester. His research focusses on green infras-
tructure policy, practice and finance. His research has been funded
 Notes on Contributors xi

by the EU (Horizon 2020) and the UK government (Defra/Natural

England), and he has been part of the team developing the National
Green Infrastructure Standard for England.
Mummery Jane is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with Federa-
tion University. She is an ethical and political philosopher and cultural
theorist with long-standing interests and multiple research publications
examining activism, democracy and justice, ethical constructions of indi-
vidual and social identity, human-animal relations, climate change policy
and governance, and social change.
Mummery Josephine is a Research Fellow, University of Canberra, with
interests in how climate change science can enhance decision-making for
societal resilience. She chairs the Steering Committee, Climate Systems
Hub and National Environmental Science Program and previously had
senior executive roles leading climate change adaptation and science
initiatives in Australian Government departments.
Neven-Scharnigg Renée is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Media
and Social Sciences, University of Stavanger. She holds a master in
Energy Environment and Society from this university. Her research
focuses on Accountable Solar Energy Transitions, with specific attention
to justice effects during multi-scalar solar rollout.
Patton Michael Quinn is Professor of Practice in the Claremont
Evaluation Centre and former President of the American Evaluation
Association. He is author of eight major evaluation books including a
5th edition of Utilization-Focused Evaluation ( 2022) and Blue Marble
(Global) Evaluation (2020) and co-author of Getting to Maybe: How the
World is Changed . He is recipient of the Myrdal Award for Outstanding
Contributions to Useful and Practical Evaluation Practice, the Lazarsfeld
Award for Lifelong Contributions to Evaluation Theory, the 2017 Research
on Evaluation Award and the 2020 Transformative Evaluator Award.
Reeves Jessica is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental and Sustainability
Science at Federation University’s Gippsland campus. Her research
involves long-term environmental change and more recent human
impact. She is particularly interested in exploring lived experience of
xii Notes on Contributors

place and ways of knowing country, and how this can be interwoven
into natural resource management.
Sareen Siddharth is Associate Professor in Energy and Environment at
the University of Stavanger and Associate Professor II at the Centre for
Climate and Energy Transformation in Bergen. His research addresses
the governance of energy transitions, from bustling cities to extrac-
tive zones, examining how changing energy infrastructure impacts social
equity.
Shokrgozar Shayan is a Ph.D. Fellow at the Centre for Climate
and Energy Transformation at the University of Bergen. His research
addresses the role of care, justice and dignity in lower-carbon energy
rollout, particularly how alternative energy imaginaries can allow for the
provision of decent living within socio-ecological limits.
The Community of Bung Yarnda, in East Gippsland, Australia, is home
to the GunaiKurnai people. It is also sometimes called Lake Tyers.
Tosun Jale has been a Professor at the Institute of Political Science at the
University of Heidelberg since March 2015. Her teaching and research
focus mainly on the comparative study of regulation of environment,
energy and climate change, as well as distributive conflicts within the
European Union and the influence of the EU on regulatory measures in
third-party states.
Wilson Bruce is Director of the European Union Centre of Excellence
at RMIT. He leads the Centre of Excellence on Smart Specialisation
and Regional Policy. He also leads a Jean Monnet Network on the EU’s
engagement with the SDGs in Asia Pacific, a partnership project that
was recognised recently as an outstanding global example of the role
of universities in implementation of SDG 17. He was a founding Co-
Director of Pascal (Place, Social Capital and Learning) International
Observatory and a member of the Advisory Board and Committee of
the Hume Global Learning Village. He has long experience in working
with all levels of government on organisational and social change, and is
committed to linking researchers and policymakers with city and regional
 Notes on Contributors xiii

governments on social and economic policy, innovation, lifelong learning

and environment.
Wolf Steven A. is Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources
and the Environment, Cornell University, and Visiting Professor at
University of Stavanger. His expertise is environmental governance with
a special focus on efforts to secure public goods—carbon sequestra-
tion, water quality, biodiversity—from landscapes characterised by strong
private property rights claims.
 List of Figures

Fig. 3.1 Carbono invertario label 53

Fig. 3.2 Hierarchy of mobility 54
Fig. 3.3 Personal mobility, industry & housing 54
Fig. 3.4 Bilans infographic for vacations 56
Fig. 3.5 Carbon footprint Italy label 56
Fig. 3.6 Carbon reduce and net zero labels 58
Fig. 3.7 Toitū GHG calculator 59
Fig. 3.8 EPD footprint product infographic 61
Fig. 3.9 TGO footprint label 62
Fig. 3.10 Cool mode label 63
Fig. 3.11 Infographic on life cycle assessment for aluminum can 63
Fig. 5.1 Functional features of sustainability transformations
supporting institutions 126
Fig. 5.2 States’ moral duties for sustainability transformations 132
Fig. 5.3 Sustainability transformations and environmental
accountability: Adaptation, mitigation and social
transitions 133
Fig. 5.4 Sustainability transformations superstructure 135

xv
xvi List of Figures

Fig. 8.1 Coproduction and comanagement are forms

of collaborative governance that lead to greater public
accountability 209
Fig. 9.1 Map of Lake Tyers and townships: Nowa Nowa, Lake
Tyers Beach and Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust (LTAT) 239
Fig. 9.2 Local community groups (inner circle) and external
organisations (outer circle) supporting the work
of Living Bung Yarnda 242
Fig. 9.3 Community mapping enabled the project to focus
on issues and activities most relevant to the local
community 248
Fig. 9.4 Community photographs exhibited at a Oneonta
and b NGV Waterfront Program 249
Fig. 9.5 Establishing sites for water quality monitoring at Lake
Tyers Aboriginal Trust 249
Fig. 9.6 Training events and workshops organised through
Living Bung Yarnda for the Lake Tyers community 251
Fig. 9.7 Planned Burn Fire Forum organised through Living
Bung Yarnda 253
Fig. 10.1 Flow of policy expectations for reaching F2F Strategy
goals 281
 List of Tables

Table 3.1 Institutional fields (Geels, 2006; Scott, 1995) 45

Table 3.2 Summary of cases 52
Table 4.1 NBS interventions in Urban GreenUP 99
Table 8.1 Disciplinary differences in the usage
and understanding of comanagement
and coproduction 202
Table 8.2 Case study outcomes and assessment for key attributes 217
Table 9.1 Examples of possible roles of researchers
in sustainability transformations 237
Table 9.2 2021 census data for the communities surrounding
Lake Tyers, in comparison to the State of Victoria 239
Table 9.3 Overview of environmental governance responsibility
across Lake Tyers 241
Table 10.1 F2F Strategy goals as listed in the F2F factsheet 267
Table 10.2 Summary of opportunities and challenges discussed
in F2F Strategy, Section 2.1 ensuring sustainable food
production (pp. 5–8) 268
Table 10.3 Outline of the EU Action Plan for organic farming;
COM(2021) 141 final/2 from 19 April 2021 282

xvii
xviii List of Tables

Table 10.4 Summary of actions the EU Commission will take

to encourage conversion to organic agriculture,
COM(2021) 141 final/2 from 19 April 2021, p. 13 283
Table 10.5 CAP 2023–2027 components where environment
and climate action are discussed 287
 List of Boxes

Box 4.1 NBS definitions with co-benefits in bold 83

Box 4.2 Potential Contribution of NBS to the SDGs 86
Box 4.3 IUCN principles and their link to governance 88

xix
 1
Sustainability Transformations, Social
Transitions and Environmental
Accountabilities: Past and Present
Entanglements
Beth Edmondson

This edited collection has been written as global climate change and
other environmental transformations deepen the insecurity of sustaining
current human populations and lifestyles, and escalating numbers of
non-human species risk extinction. Indeed, many have already lost their
race against species extinction and countless ecosystems have experienced
new threats through fire, floods, land-clearing and drought, in the time it
took to bring this book together. Yet more have passed beyond recovery
tipping points in the period elapsed between the production of this book
and your reading of these sentences.
In the middle of 2022, as these chapters were being finalised, the
northern summer brought unprecedent temperatures across many parts
of the Northern Hemisphere. New record temperatures were set, for

B. Edmondson (B)
Trafalgar, VIC, Australia
e-mail: dr.beth.edmondson@gmail.com

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 1

Switzerland AG 2023
B. Edmondson (ed.), Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions and
Environmental Accountabilities, Palgrave Studies in Environmental Transformation,
Transition and Accountability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18268-6_1
2 B. Edmondson

instance, in India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the new United States,
France and Spain. During these weeks of extreme heat, many thousands
of people died. In Spain, France and Portugal, massive fires destroyed
forests and many of their inhabitants, farms and homes. In London, fire
threatened the outer city, as extreme temperatures melted and buckled
airport tarmacs, roads and railway lines. While these circumstances
starkly show the fragility of current human societies, they bring little
new attention to the hazards experienced by non-human populations.
These events followed closely behind a couple of years of dramatic
social upheavals with dramatically different environmental impacts. As
the Covid-19 pandemic briefly curtailed international travel, it also
disrupted global and national production and distribution networks,
effectively reducing annual carbon emissions to an extent that decades
of negotiations, bargaining and target-setting rounds had been unable to
achieve. This global threat to people, societies and economies also trig-
gered new patterns of mass production and consumption. For instance,
new mass production and global distribution of disposable face masks,
rapid antigen testing kits, personal protection suits, gowns, gloves and
face shields, vaccine containing temperature-controlled packaging, vials
and syringes for mass vaccinations became part of the ‘new normal’
international economy.
Debates about the nature and possible scope of inter-relations between
human and non-human species might have seemed likely to find new
grounds for expansion as the origins of Covid-19, or in earlier decades,
bird flu outbreaks, briefly pre-occupied those concerned with global
pandemic risks, these have, to date, remained of fleeting broad interest.
In each instance, attention has remained firmly fixed on the health
management of human populations, and returning to business-as-usual
has remained the central aim, even when very large numbers of people
have died or experienced life-changing health consequences. While a
brief period of reduced carbon emissions attracted attention, the rapid
enormous expansion in resource allocations to manage the spread and
ongoing consequences of Covid-19 have been largely backgrounded.
The complex entanglement between past and present that is often
just below the surface of everyday relations and social-ecological systems
dynamics has created the current contexts of environmental upheavals
 1 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions … 3

and ecosystems tipping points that characterise the current world. The
implications of these are by no means limited to the consequences for
human societies that are the primary focus of these chapters. However,
by focusing on social transitions and environmental transformations as
interlinked sustainability challenges, these chapters develop new insights
into the conceptual, systemic and institutional contexts required for
durable and scalable sustainability transformations at this critical junc-
ture. Throughout, attention is paid to the double-edged opportunities
and disruptive implications and effects of sustainability transformations
for current human societies, forms of organisation and production.
**Understanding how sustainability transformations are linked with
social transitions and environmental accountabilities requires atten-
tion to how orderly social transitions can support new environmental
accountabilities, and their capacities to promote sustainability transfor-
mations. Understanding these processes and dynamics is essential for
new knowledge to resolve current uncertainties regarding the conditions
that influence their emergence, impacts and durability. In recent circum-
stances, global sustainability transformations might have been expected
to become over-riding political, economic and social imperatives, as
governments, intergovernmental organisations, economic corporations,
smaller-scale producers and consumers across the world sought new ways
of working, living with new uncertainties and sustaining their social
connections.
At this point in the twenty-first century, it is evident that social tran-
sitions and environmental accountabilities influence the breadth, depth
and intensity of sustainability transformations. Each of the chapters that
follow presents timely consideration of some key challenges and oppor-
tunities for current societies as they seek to untangle past and present
systems, institutions and perspectives to shift the current trajectories of
environmental decline towards potential sustainability transformations.
Some of the cognitive, structural and agency-related dimensions of
environmental sustainability practices and perspectives are examined in
the chapters that follow. Some chapters focus on the emergence of
new environmental accountabilities that might drive and/or arise from
shifting awarenesses of environmental changes and their implications
for where, how and whether people can continue to live well into the
4 B. Edmondson

mid-late twenty-first century. In various ways, they each consider links,

tensions and interplay between human-institutional-knowledge-driven
sources of sustainability transformations and responses to them. Each
of these is important for the emergence of new environmental account-
abilities, and perhaps most especially for the normative frameworks that
underpin their roles in sustainability transformations.
Among the challenges in this situation is the uncertainty surrounding
what sustainability entails and for whom. Additionally, sustainability
transformations entail shifting away from what we know—towards what
we don’t know. These conditions present deeply confronting challenges
for people and governments whose societies are based upon high levels
of certainty and beliefs in the benefits of their established systems
and practices. In short, sustainability transformations involve shifting
away from what we can confidently predict as future outcomes from
recent and current practices—towards hoped for outcomes from new
practices. Unsurprisingly, these realities present huge sets of conceptual
and circumstantial challenges that can only be resolved through new
knowledge and new acceptance of environmental accountabilities.
This book therefore examines why sustainability transformations
matter. It brings together diverse approaches to understand how sustain-
ability transformations can promote orderly transitions and how essential
social transitions and environmental accountabilities are for the emer-
gence and durability of sustainability transformations. Importantly, it do
so against a backdrop of transforming environments. These are timely
discussions because there are real-world consequences of changing ideas
regarding how best to achieve effective sustainability transformations.
These chapters examine how diverse social transitions variously
promote, enable, constrain and diffuse sustainable social-ecological
systems, and consider the economic and political structures that are
created and maintained within them. They examine the roles of social
transitions for societies pursuing orderly and managed adjustments from
one form of organisation and/or production practices. They draw upon
diverse knowledge to consider the conditions that influence whether
social transitions provide buffering periods as new social-ecological
systems dynamics drive sustainability transformations.
 1 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions … 5

Throughout, authors systematically examine links and tensions

between diverse approaches and understandings of sustainability trans-
formations, social transitions and environmental accountabilities. They
aim to improve understandings of current and anticipated environmental
transformations and to extend capacities for orderly social transitions
towards sustainability transformations. They pay sustained attention to
whether and how understandings and applications of accountability
can improve international sustainability transformations and the mecha-
nisms and institutions that will influence them. These chapters consider
some pressing questions concerning social transitions and environmental
accountabilities: how can they contribute to sustainability transforma-
tions, how do they influence the scalability of sustainability trans-
formations, and how can such sustainability transformations become
durable?
Sustainability transformations present opportunities to extend and
preserve the adaptation capacities of societies, environments and species.
The chapters that follow consider accountability as an attribute of
sustainability transformations. They recognise how important it will
be for security, equitable access to resources, cost and burden sharing
and intergenerational protectionary imperatives as global climate change
and other environmental degradation consequences impact social and
social-ecological systems. They also contextualise current accountability
approaches of various kinds and consider their influences at different
levels as local, national and international sustainability transformations
experiments are undertaken. These discussions also recognise the influ-
ence of normative expectations that have historically been attached to
reciprocal accountabilities and which can delay or disrupt sustainability
transformations.
This edited collection brings together diverse approaches to under-
standing how environmental accountabilities and social transitions influ-
ence (and intersect with) sustainability transformations. Overcoming or
avoiding the obstacles and pitfalls that limit sustainable social-ecological
systems rests upon understanding why and how social transitions and
environmental accountabilities influence sustainability transformations.
This is a timely project because changing ideas and knowledge about
6 B. Edmondson

social-ecological systems, social, political and economic agents and struc-

tures that can both support and constrain sustainability transformations
have real-world consequences.
These chapters engage with real-world and theoretical challenges,
setting these within multi-disciplinary scholarly frameworks to examine
their consequences for social transitions, environmental accountabili-
ties and sustainability transformations. They aim to extend knowledge
regarding different ways of understanding sustainable social-ecological
systems, environmental sustainability and sustainability transformations.
They consider how new knowledge and different understandings, and
perspectives matter for whether, when and how people, governments,
corporations and international organisations seek and pursue solutions
to social-ecological challenges and sustainability dilemmas.
These real-world and theoretical political dilemmas also challenge
ideas about independent sovereign states and the institutionalised imped-
iments they might now pose for effective sustainability transformations
expectations among informed citizens. These dilemmas are also altering
the rights and responsibilities of governments, intergovernmental organ-
isation and key economic actors because environmentally responsible
social and economic transitions rely upon states’ acceptance of increased
environmental accountabilities. As institutions that underpin orderly
societies, states are responsible for sustainability transformations and
the social transitions and environmental accountabilities associated with
them. Current and impending global climate change impacts and related
environmental challenges now demand those states both individually
and collectively accept increased responsibilities for developing and
implementing sustainability transformation strategies.
The chapters that follow present new multi-disciplinary knowledge
and insights to address these complex problems and to outline new
ways of progressing solutions to the dilemmas and wicked problems of
social-ecological systems risks arising from interlinked climate change
and environmental degradation. From multiple perspectives, they seek
to integrate different forms of knowledge to address these complex prob-
lems. The approaches they adopt and the perspectives they outline seek
to identify new opportunities for progressing sustainability transforma-
tions, supporting environmental accountabilities and enabling just social
 1 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions … 7

transitions through local, national and international efforts. They also

incorporate knowledge and evaluate the significance of the 2030 United
Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development with particular attention
to how and why these 17 sustainable development goals depend upon
new knowledge-based strategies to address wicked and super-wicked
problems.
In Chapter 2, Michael Quinn Patton argues that transformation
involves systems interventions and major systems changes. He grap-
ples with some of the knowledge and process problems that have
prevented the development and adoption of better transformation eval-
uation approaches. This chapter highlights how project accountability
protocols, logic models and theories of change which focus on narrowly
specified SMART goals largely miss the point of evaluating transforma-
tions. He advocates for them to be replaced by a theory of transformation
that guides both the design and evaluation of transformations with
attention to transformation accountabilities. He outlines some of the
ways that new principles-focused developmental evaluations can also
enhance and deepen transformational trajectories. Most especially, this
chapter examines how transforming evaluation approaches by setting
new principles-focused developmental evaluation efforts within an over-
arching utilisation-focused evaluation framework would better suit the
challenges and demands of sustainability transformations, social transi-
tions and environmental accountabilities.
In Chapter 3, David Foord examines how national carbon foot-
print and labelling programmes are influencing consumer practices and
shaping new sociotechnical transitions and ethics. He utilises an array of
frameworks to examine the design of selected national carbon counting
and labelling programmes. By employing sociotechnical transition imag-
inary, rationalisation, standardisation and ideal type frameworks to
examine the design of nine carbon counting and labelling programmes,
Foord examines the meanings and values that are presented within them.
This study suggests that there is more old than new in the construction
climate ethics pertaining to these programmes. This chapter presents new
knowledge regarding the meanings and values of these programmes and
examines their respective practices of reporting, calculation and public
8 B. Edmondson

display of emissions, the social observation of these signs and the perfor-
mance of private and public practices to accord personal, household,
mobility and workplace behaviours with state goals. Perhaps most impor-
tantly, Foord finds that the traits associated with these practices include
belief in the legitimacy of state institutions and its climate and efficiency
goals, confidence in the robustness and accuracy of its measurement prac-
tices, desire for both internal consistency among personal practices and
these state goals, as well as to be recognised for this consistency. This
chapter finds that participation in these measurement systems involves
rationalisation, modern mastery through technology and learning of new
systems of numeracy, ironically in the service of the re-enchantment of
the natural world. It sets this multi-disciplinary knowledge in a broader
context by incorporating an examination of standard setting histori-
ography of other social practices to consider ongoing implications for
sustainability transitions.
Sarah Clement and Ian C. Mell examine nature-based solutions,
environmental and socio-economic transformation in Chapter 4. They
outline how nature-based solutions (NBS) have been proposed as a core
option for addressing a wide range of social, economic and ecological
problems in cities and regions, featuring centrally in international policy
as well as many national and sub-national discourses. They recognise that
such an idea is appealing in an era where austerity and shrinking tax bases
mean engineered options are prohibitively expensive. They also consider
NBS can address these problems while also addressing the crisis of confi-
dence in democracy, focusing on tailored solutions that are ‘co-produced’
and ‘co-designed’ with the communities who will benefit them.
Examining a wide range of case studies and international policy docu-
ments, their chapter explores two key promises of NBS: (1) that they
offer democratic solutions to sustainability crises in urban areas, and
(2) that NBS interventions offer new and innovative solutions to these
crises. In doing so, the chapter reveals a mismatch between the ways
NBS are framed as ‘solutions’ to both material and existential prob-
lems, and the reality of how NBS are implemented in practice. Their
promise as a means of addressing environmental and socio-economic
transformation is discussed with reference to live case studies in Europe,
Asia, South America and Australia. In particular, the mismatch between
 1 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions … 9

this promise is examined in depth with relation to collaborative and

deliberative forms of governance. Ultimately, this analysis finds that the
promise of NBS as a means of addressing environmental and democratic
challenges is strongly constrained by a number of governance vari-
ables, including organisational culture, accepted policies and norms, and
current financing options, which influence the quality of design, imple-
mentation, and monitoring and—most importantly—stultify progress in
using NBS to address society’s greatest challenges.
Chapter 5 focuses on collective environmental accountabilities as
an attribute of sustainability transformations. It positions sustainability
transformations as presenting new opportunities for governments, inter-
governmental organisations, corporations and other economic entities to
preserve the adaptation capacities of societies, environments and species.
It recognises that multiple social-ecological systems are currently experi-
encing systemic, relational and structural upheavals. It addresses current
patterns, relationships and accountabilities that extend beyond deter-
mining ecosystems dynamics, adaptation and mitigation opportunities,
as they rapidly become key determinants of the success or failure of
sustainability transformation efforts.
In Chapter 6, Siddharth Sareen, Renée Neven-Scharnigg, Bérénice
Girard, Abigail Martin and Steven A. Wolf examine accountable solar
energy transitions in financially constrained contexts. They argue that
environmental accountabilities are contingent on societal commitment
to particular visions of rapid low-carbon transition. This commitment is
in turn underpinned by the socio-economic conditions and political enti-
tlements of ordinary people and the degree to which these are brought
to bear on the governance of carbon-intensive sectors like energy. This
chapter considers environmental accountabilities and societal transitions
in financially constrained contexts, namely Portugal in Europe and the
Indian state of Rajasthan, with a specific focus on solar energy rollout
for which they offer prime geographies and ambitious energy policies.
It thoughtfully examines how real-world issues such as energy poverty,
as well as the political economy of ownership and control over energy
infrastructure at multiple scales, shape environmental accountabilities
in these financially constrained contexts at different development levels.
The new knowledge that is outlined in this chapter highlights the salience
10 B. Edmondson

of societal commitment and political legitimacy as influences upon the

likely nature of accountability relations for transitions policies.
According to Josephine Mummery and Jane Mummery, in Chapter 7,
recognition of the need for environmental accountabilities and sustain-
ability transformation is growing in the face of Australia’s changing
climate and collapsing biodiversity, but starting transformation processes
that build socio-environmental accountability and human, non-human
and ecological community resilience is proving more elusive. These
authors argue that this likely results from long-standing, problematic
tendencies of segregation—between (a) human and ecological cultures;
(b) science, policy and practice, including between science and its
implementation; and (c) policy scopes of practice. They point to
long-established governmental preferences for incremental, risk averse
models for change rather than transformative change as proving diffi-
cult to counter. This chapter examines these difficulties and proposes
one path through them towards environmental accountability, sustain-
ability transformation and socio-environmental resilience. More specifi-
cally, it explores these issues via examination of Australia’s Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)—the
Australian Government’s key legislation for protecting and managing
nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological commu-
nities, and heritage.
Although the EPBC Act has been in place since 2000, it has achieved
little of its stated aims. It is currently under review, the recipient of
extremely critical reports. In this chapter, we examine the current Act
as a demonstration of the problematic of segregation, as well as explore
how it could better support environmental accountability, sustainability
transformation and socio-environmental resilience. Of particular interest
is use of the EPBC Act as a basis to identify and outline how legislation
framed through relational rather than segregated understandings might
enable pathways to socio-environmental transformation and resilience.
Chapter 8, by Candice Carr Kelman, examines collaborative
approaches to the production of science, policy and management as
means for creating more accountable environmental governance. It pays
particular attention to the inclusion of frequently underrepresented
voices in the community, as well as the importance of several other key
 1 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions … 11

elements in collaborative governance approaches, including institutions,

polycentricity and networks. It contributes to the increasingly important
discussion around how to best conduct collaborative conservation and
sustainable development by focusing on the public accountability of both
policy programmes and scientific inquiry. Thus, this chapter considers
both co-management and co-production of knowledge as models that
provide accountability to policy and science, respectively, providing a
novel perspective on these increasingly important practices. Best practices
of co-production are discussed, and key examples of collaborative gover-
nance of forests on public lands in the USA and Indonesia are examined
with attention to public accountability and sustainability transformation.
In Chapter 9, which focuses on environmental stewardship for sustain-
ability transformations, Patrick Bonney and Jessica Reeves argue that
local communities are key actors for addressing sustainability transforma-
tions, particularly in rural and regional areas. According to Bonney and
Reeves, change must be rooted in ‘place’ if it is to be effective because this
enables it to respond to the specific social and environmental settings it
is seeking to enhance. They examine the role of environmental steward-
ship in achieving the necessary transformations towards environmental
sustainability and social change, focusing on a unique collaborative case
study—Living Bung Yarnda.
This chapter shows how Living Bung Yarnda allows a platform for
community voices and knowledge to be considered alongside scien-
tific data and policy for transformational sustainability of Lake Tyers in
East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. In this chapter, Bonney and Reeves
highlight how this place-based project enables community members to
contribute knowledge and concerns about their place through various
means, including observations and photographs, artworks and sound-
scapes, scientific data collection and stories of place. They also consider
the centrality of two-way knowledge exchange with management agen-
cies for enabling a deeper understanding of the interconnections that
drive the lake and its community. Their work identifies how this project
made significant steps to repair deep divides within the various propo-
nents of the community, and between community and management
agencies about how best to care for this beautiful place, by empowering
community members to act as environmental stewards.
12 B. Edmondson

In Chapter 10, Jale Tosun and Charlene Marek evaluate how transfor-
mative the European Union’s Farm to Fork Strategy might be in tackling
the environmental and climate footprint of food systems. They examine
the European Union’s (EU) commitment to becoming climate-neutral
by 2050. To attain this goal, the EU adopted the European Green Deal,
which lays out an ambitious research agenda that resonates with what the
EU committed to achieve within the framework of the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals. The European Green Deal strives to
attain sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
Throughout this chapter, Marek and Tosun examine how and why
addressing food systems is especially crucial for achieving climate, envi-
ronmental and economic goals and consider how the Farm to Fork
Strategy has introduced a reform agenda for the EU food system.
From a practical viewpoint, however, they find that inclusiveness could
potentially come at the expense of transformative change for sustain-
able food systems as they assess whether the Farm to Fork Strategy is
better equipped than previous policies for bringing about transformative
changes in the European agri-food sector. They also astutely consider
the likely trade-off between the transformation of food systems and the
inclusion of farmers in this process.
Chapter 11 focuses on the implementation of Smart Specialisation and
Foundational Economy approaches in Europe and Australia as opportu-
nities to address some of the challenges of enabling a just transition for
workers and communities as urgent actions are taken to reduce carbon
emissions. Throughout this chapter, Lars Coenen and Bruce Wilson
examine how Smart Specialisation has evolved to become a key means
of assisting regions and communities as they are restructured and ques-
tions of how to ensure that people have access to decent livelihoods
become critical. They find similar value in the Foundational Economy
which focused on the importance of everyday activities to sustaining local
economies.
Coenen and Wilson maintain that together, these approaches to
just transition can inform decisions to develop place-based innovation
systems to assist regions and communities. They draw attention to
 1 Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions … 13

integrating initiatives that promote both economic and socio-ecological

innovation. Their chapter provides a detailed case study of the closure
of the Hazelwood coal-fired electricity generator, following which the
Latrobe Valley Authority (LVA) in Gippsland, Australia, experimented
with Smart Specialisation to develop a placed innovation system. Coenen
and Wilson’s work found that balancing both ‘smart’ and ‘foundational’
innovation that is supported by industry with community, research and
government action is a key inclusion for just transitions.
Chapter 12 revisits the necessities of emerging opportunities for social
transitions, environmental accountabilities and sustainability transfor-
mations. It argues that new insights into the interlinked dynamics of
environmental accountabilities and social transitions can identify mech-
anisms that can support sustainability transformations. It pays attention
to systemic feedback loops as sources of learning and opportunities for
transformational change. It draws upon diverse approaches to high-
light opportunities for rethinking assumptions about social-ecological
systems to bring fresh approaches to environmental and social sustain-
ability in the twenty-first century. It revisits the diverse perspectives and
approaches outlined by other chapters to examine emerging new oppor-
tunities for sustainability transformations through social transitions and
environmental accountabilities.
It concludes that sustainability transformations can only be achieved
when supported by multi-scaled and institutionally integrated commit-
ments by sovereign states, intergovernmental organisations, industries,
corporations and societies. Orderly and equitable sustainability transfor-
mation transitions can only be achieved through shared responsibilities
and common goals of ensuring the longevity of human societies. These
necessitate new approaches to economic and social policies and new
structures to support their implementation.
Together, these chapters present new knowledge and insights regarding
opportunities to improve sustainability transformations as environ-
mental, ecosystems and interspecies interdependency-related challenges
deepen, raising new challenges for structures, processes, ideas and
values concerning rights, responsibilities and authoritative capacities.
14 B. Edmondson

They consider these combined challenges as constituting a multi-

faceted conceptual and practical crisis for sustainability transforma-
tions—whereby environmental accountabilities are effectively integrated
into social transitions. In various ways, they expand understanding of
why and how increased accountabilities can strengthen mechanisms for
sustainability transformations.
 2
Evaluating Transformation Means
Transforming Evaluation
Michael Quinn Patton

The clarion call of our times is for transformation. Transformation

means major, deep, broad, and enduring change in systems. Agenda
2030 is a bold transformative agenda across 17 sustainable develop-
ment goals (SDGs) areas including ending poverty and hunger, ensuring
gender equality, mitigating climate change, stopping pollution of land,
water, and air, and living sustainability. Many people, organisations, and
networks are working to ensure that the future is more sustainable and
equitable. Global efforts are underway to transform food systems, alle-
viate hunger, and mitigate climate change. The rhetoric is visionary,
hopeful, and inspiring. The reality is that most of these transformation-
aspiring initiatives have been designed, implemented, and evaluated

M. Q. Patton (B)
Blue Marble Evaluation, Utilization-Focused Evaluation, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, United States
e-mail: mqpatton@prodigy.net

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature 15

Switzerland AG 2023
B. Edmondson (ed.), Sustainability Transformations, Social Transitions and
Environmental Accountabilities, Palgrave Studies in Environmental Transformation,
Transition and Accountability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18268-6_2
16 M. Q. Patton

under an outdated and inadequate paradigm based on linear models of

command and control. The turbulence, uncertainties, unpredictability,
and uncontrollability of engaging with complex dynamic systems require
fundamentally different approaches to leadership, design, management,
and, the focus of this chapter, a different approach to evaluation.

Transforming Evaluation
The theme of the 2019 conference of the International Development
Evaluation Association (IDEAS) was Evaluation for Transformational
Change and it generated a book with the same title (Berg et al. 2019). A
subsequent IDEAS book was entitled Transformational Evaluation for the
Global Crises of Our Times (Berg et al., 2021). The journals of the African
Evaluation Association, American Evaluation Association, the Canadian
Evaluation Society, and the European Evaluation Society have published
several articles on the urgent necessity of transforming evaluation to meet
the challenges of system transformation (AfrEA, 2021; Bourgeois, 2021;
Larsson, 2021; Loud, 2021; Ofir, 2021; Patton, 2021a; Uitto, 2021).
Evaluators are commissioned to assess the fidelity and impacts of hypoth-
esised transformational initiatives and trajectories. But transformational
initiatives offer new challenges for the design, implementation, and use
of evaluations.
The premise of this chapter is that evaluating transformation requires
transforming evaluation. I’ll offer five overarching evaluation transforma-
tions I believe are needed: moving from project thinking to systems
thinking; from theory of change to theory of transformation; from
simple linear thinking to engaging seriously with the implications for
evaluation of complexity; from evaluation silos to cross-silos integra-
tion; and from evaluator independence and neutrality to acknowledging
interdependence and having skin in the game.
 2 Evaluating Transformation Means Transforming Evaluation 17

Five Overarching Evaluation Transformations

From Project Thinking to Systems Thinking

Transformation is not a project or programme. Transformational initia-

tives are not targeted to achieving SMART goals that are specific,
measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Transformation means
changing systems to be more just (equitable) and sustainable (resilient)
(Patton, 2020a, 2020b; 2021a, 2021b). This means dealing with
complexity dynamics in a world characterised by turbulence, uncertainty,
unpredictability, and uncontrollability (Furubo et al., 2013; Hodgson,
2020). The focus of evaluation, the evaluand in our jargon, becomes
transformed systems.
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the flow of private sector
funds into systems transformations (TIIP, 2020; Olazabal, 2021). We’re
seeing emphasis on systems change wherever serious actors are addressing
the climate emergency. For example, the global financial investment
community has been highlighting changes in their sphere as discussed
in Assessing System-Level Investments (Lydenberg & Burckart, 2020). As
that report shows, trillions of dollars are being directed at systems-level
change and social impact investors are seeking new approaches to assess
such changes.
The Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group of the American
Evaluation Association spent two years identifying the principles that
constitute systems thinking: focusing on interrelationships, perspectives,
boundaries, and dynamics (Systems in Evaluation, 2018).
Among many other things, the global pandemic powerfully demon-
strated the interconnections among health systems, school systems,
community systems, economic and finance systems, entertainment
systems, and political systems. A critical evaluation skill, then, is being
able to see the interconnections among systems and the implications of
those interconnections. Let me share an example in practice.
The United Nations held a global Food Systems Summit on 23
September 2021. Building up to the Summit, more than 1000 ‘Inde-
pendent Dialogues’ were held around the world. The synthesis of those
Dialogues confirmed the importance of taking a systems perspective and
18 M. Q. Patton

seeing the interconnections of food systems with health, climate, social

justice, and information systems. There are nearly 690 million people in
the world who are hungry, or 8.9 per cent of the world population—an
increase of 10 million people in one year and nearly 60 million in five
years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the problem.
Food systems transformation involves changing systems. The importance
of thinking in terms of systems permeated the Dialogues. The pandemic
gave rise to many discussions of the interconnections between health
systems and food systems, including the significant increases in food
insecurity and hunger due to COVID-19.
The Food Systems Summit elevated and focused attention on food
systems, not just food. The very framing of the Summit, and therefore
the framing of the Independent Dialogues, being a Food Systems Summit
drew attention to food systems, not just food production and consump-
tion. As a result, the language of systems permeated the Dialogues. The
Food Systems transformation Dialogues were occurring during the coro-
navirus pandemic and increased evidence of the Climate Emergency
with increased incidence of severe weather episodes, fires, droughts, and
floods. Progress on the SDG indicators was often reversed, as great
numbers of people experienced food insecurity, hunger, and deepened
poverty. Dialogue participants often observed that the potential for food
systems transformation was inevitably and intrinsically tied to the trans-
formation of climate and health systems. Dialogues addressed broad
ranges of the needed systems transformation from national-level systems
to community-level systems, including marketing systems, seed bank
systems, land tenure systems, and finance systems (Patton et al., 2021).
However, while the Food Systems Summit elevated and focused atten-
tion on food systems and the language and rhetoric of systems were
noticeably in the ascendant, the report observed that thinking in systems
was noticeably absent. The transition from simple, linear project and
programme thinking to systems thinking constitutes a substantial change
in worldview. It is a paradigm shift of major proportions (Patton et al.,
2021).
Systems thinking means designing, implementing, and evaluating
transformation initiatives with attention to the interdependencies among
humans and nature, and among producers, distributors, and consumers
 2 Evaluating Transformation Means Transforming Evaluation 19

of food. Systems thinking maps and incorporates diverse perspectives

within and across ecosystem, political, economic, social, and cultural
boundaries. Systems thinking identifies and monitors the dynamic inter-
actions of multiple factors and relationships in the production and
consumption of food, attending to iterative interconnections, feedback
loops, leverage points, momentum dynamics, critical mass transitions,
networked interactions both formal and informal, and cross-silo inter-
connections among multiple stakeholder constituencies: governments,
private sector actors, civil society and non-government organisations
(NGO), advocates and activists, researchers and university scholars, phil-
anthropic donors and social impact investors, international and domestic
agencies involved in various aspects of food systems, and managers
and evaluators of transformational initiatives. Applying systems thinking
includes understanding and acting on the interdependent nature of
land, air, and water systems and the knowledge that food systems
transformation is connected to climate change, health systems, sustain-
able ecosystems, weather systems, and healthy landscapes and seascapes.
Transforming complex systems interconnections requires a theory of
transformation, the second overarching evaluation transformation.

From Theory of Change to Theory of Transformation

The second evaluation transformation is moving from theory of change

conceptualisations to theory of transformation thinking. A theory of
change specifies how a project or programme attains desired outcomes.
Transformation is not a project. It is multi-dimensional, multi-faceted,
and multi-level, cutting across national borders and intervention silos,
across sectors and specialised interests, connecting local and global, and
sustaining across time. A theory of transformation incorporates and inte-
grates multiple theories of change operating at many levels that, knitted
together, explain how major systems transformation occurs.
Programme theory aims to explain why a particular programme
approach should work to achieve desired results. This involves making
explicit and then testing a programme’s theory of change. In 1995, Carol
H. Weiss, an applied sociologist and pioneering evaluation theorist who
20 M. Q. Patton

helped create the field of evaluation, wrote an article for the Aspen Insti-
tute about the importance of basing community interventions on a solid
theory of change. Her article was entitled: ‘Nothing as practical as a good
theory’ (Weiss & Connell, 1995). She was reacting to the emergence of
large-scale community initiatives funded by philanthropic foundations
and government agencies that poured millions of dollars into community
change efforts with no knowledge of the relevant social science research
that should have been informing such efforts. Her article became one of
the most influential, if not the most influential, articles in the history of
programme evaluation. Today, we would say it went viral.
But transformation involves a different order of magnitude and
speed than project-bounded changes—and, correspondingly, requires a
different kind of theory. The language of transformation suggests major
systems change and rapid reform at a global level. A transformational
trajectory would cut across nation states, across sustainable development
goal (SDG) and sector silos, and connect the local with the global (using
the Blue Marble principles of evaluation discussed in my book on the
subject). The language of transformation has emerged across the globe
wherever people convene to contemplate and initiate collective action to
deal with global issues. A vision of transformation has become central
to international dialogues about the future of the Earth and sustainable
development.
A theory of transformation emerges from studying major transforma-
tions of the past and examining current challenges and patterns that
portend future possibilities. Transformations that are instructive include
the end of colonialism, the end of apartheid, the fall of the Berlin Wall
and communism, turning back the AIDS epidemic, the WorldWideWeb
(Internet), and, today, social media. It is instructive to understand how
these systems emerged into dominance in the first place, for none of these
transformations occurred due to a centrally conceptualised, controlled,
and implemented strategic plan or massive coordinated initiative. These
transformations occurred when multiple and diverse initiatives inter-
sected and synergised to create momentum, critical mass, and ultimately
tipping points.
New kinds of initiatives and new forms of intervention will be
needed that can respond to the challenges of global problems, including
 2 Evaluating Transformation Means Transforming Evaluation 21

designing and evaluating systems transformations. Transformation flows

from an understanding that the status quo is not a viable path forward
and that networked action on multiple fronts using diverse change strate-
gies across multiple landscapes will be needed to overcome the resistance
from those who benefit from the status quo. Multiple interventions
are required to multiply effects, creating streams of diverse interven-
tions flowing together to generate critical mass tipping points and
mammoth change in global systems. Thus, transformation is simultane-
ously and interactively global and local at the same time and contextually
sensitive and rooted, while being globally manifest and sustainable.
Transforming systems must be multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, multi-
sectoral, multinational, and multiplicative. Tracking these new, trans-
formational initiatives will require a complex global systems change
approach to evaluation.
Transformation is a sensitising concept that has to be given meaning
and specificity within the context where transformation is targeted.
Evaluation of transformation begins by examining whether an initia-
tive, or more likely a set of initiatives and interventions, constitutes a
trajectory towards transformation. Asking the trajectory question changes
the evaluation focus from transformation having occurred (or not) to
transformational engagement. That is the reframing formulated by the
influential Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank
(IEG, 2018; IEG, 2020a, b). Assessing the trajectory towards trans-
formation is what most funders, decision-makers, and implementers of
initiatives are looking for from evaluation.

Transformational engagement is an intervention or a series of interven-

tions that helps achieve deep, systemic, and sustainable change with
large-scale impact in an area of a major development challenge. These
engagements help clients remove critical constraints to development;
cause or support fundamental change in a system; have large-scale
national or global impact; and are economically, financially, and envi-
ronmentally sustainable. (IEG, 2016, p. 1)

The Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of the World Bank evalu-

ated a sample of 20 transformational engagements varying in form, size,
22 M. Q. Patton

the development challenges they address, sector, and region, as well as

country context. In addition, IEG reviewed a purposeful and selective
sample of country-level engagements. Their comparative and synthe-
sising analysis exemplifies systems transformation evaluation (IEG, 2018;
see also Heider, 2017; IEG, 2016).
The Global Alliance for the Future of Food formulated a theory of
transformation aimed at stimulating and integrating local and global
food systems transformations. The Global Alliance is formed of 30 phil-
anthropic foundations that collaborate to support the transformation of
food and agricultural systems. Transformation means realising healthy,
equitable, renewable, resilient, and culturally diverse food systems shared
by people, communities, and their institutions. In January 2020, the
Global Alliance formally adopted a theory of transformation that informs
its activities and provides a basis for evaluating its products, activities,
and impacts through the lens of transformational engagement (Global
Alliance, 2020).
The synthesis of Independent Dialogues generated by the UN Food
Systems Summit also generated a theory of transformation that inte-
grates 22 guiding themes that together hypothesise how to mobilise and
accelerate food and agricultural systems transformation (Patton et al.,
2021).
It is beyond the scope of this chapter to present a theory of transforma-
tion. I would simply reiterate that a theory of transformation synthesises
multiple theories of change. Any specific theory of change concerns how
to produce desired results targeted by a particular intervention. Trans-
forming systems requires aligning, networking, and integrating multiple
and diverse theories of change to build critical mass transformational
tipping points. Transformation, then, is not an intervention, it is rather
a movement creating synergies among multiple interventions (Patton,
2020a).
 2 Evaluating Transformation Means Transforming Evaluation 23

From Closed-System Linear Thinking to Open-System

Complexity Understandings

The two evaluation transformations discussed above—moving from

project thinking to systems thinking and moving from theory of change
to theory of transformation—are grounded in complexity understand-
ings. Evaluation is dominated by linear causal modelling and thinking.
The dominant action paradigm is one of control: plan your work,
work your plan. Complexity theory involves and addresses nonlinearities,
emergence, and lack of control (inherent dynamic complex system uncer-
tainties). Informing and infusing evaluation with complexity under-
standings is the third evaluation transformation needed. Evaluation
under conditions of complexity is different from traditional linear static
models of interventions and evaluation (Bamberger et al., 2016; Patton,
2011, 2020a).
In March 2020, I wrote in a blog about the implications of the
pandemic for evaluation from a complexity perspective. I noted that eval-
uators would have to be prepared to pivot, adapting evaluation plans
and designs, and become capable of responding to complex dynamic
systems. This means being prepared for the unknown, for uncertain-
ties, turbulence, lack of control, nonlinearities, and for emergence of the
unexpected. This is the current context around the world in general and
this is the world in which evaluation will exist for the foreseeable future
(Patton, 2020b). This means agility rules. Here are principles I propose
to inform and undergird evaluation agility.

From Evaluation Silos to Cross-Silos Integration

A silo is a tower on a farm used to store a single kind of grain. In develop-

ment, the Silo Mentality constitutes an approach and mindset where all
the focus is on what is happening within a single sector, intervention,
issue, or problem area without regard to interrelationships and inter-
connections across those focused domains of action. This silo mentality
in international development and, correspondingly, in monitoring and
evaluation (MandE) is manifest in single-issue funding streams, tightly
24 M. Q. Patton

focused project logic models, and narrowly defined SMART goals:

specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Thinking and
working across silos challenge this dominant paradigm.
Silos take many forms. Siloed problem areas can include sectors
(education, health, housing), issues (crime, immigration, poverty),
performance indicators (income, nutrition, school graduation rates),
goals (equity, sustainability, economic growth), and traditional
programme areas (agriculture, schools, clinics). To evaluate transfor-
mation, evaluators must be able to engage across silos which means
assessing the extent to which global systems change efforts address
interrelated factors across problem areas and evaluate interconnected
outcomes. This means designing and evaluating initiatives to integrate
and coordinate interventions across sectors, SDGs, and traditional
programme areas. Let’s look at the implications of this cross-silos
principle for the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development framework.
The 17 sustainable development goals have yielded 169 targets and
230 indicators, 90 of which are mandated to be reported on peri-
odically. Technical specialists measure and report on CO2 emissions,
rates of school attendance and graduation, poverty levels, numbers
of refugees, agricultural productivity statistics, changing demographics,
energy consumption, and nutrition indicators. A massive infrastructure
has been created within each SDG to collect data and report progress
towards targets on indicators. The monitoring of indicators is impor-
tant, but targeting performance indicator by indicator, nation by nation,
scarcely begins to tap into and make use of the potential of evaluation
to inform and assess global system changes, both processes and results,
in support of strategic leadership decisions and collective action. Doing
so requires analysing the interconnections among goals and indicators
across SDGs.
A particularly informative and useful guide to SDG interactions was
published by the International Science Council (Nilsson et al., 2018).
The framework developers take seriously the conceptualisation of the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a holistic agenda—an
‘indivisible whole’ integrating the three ‘pillars’ of economic develop-
ment, social development, and environmental protection as intertwined
and cutting across the entire Agenda. Evaluating the interactions among
 2 Evaluating Transformation Means Transforming Evaluation 25

SDG targets and indicators, both actual and aspirational, positive and
negative, and short-term and long-term offer significant opportuni-
ties for transformation thinkers, doers, designers, and evaluators to
contribute to Agenda 2030.

From Evaluation Independence and Neutrality

to Skin in the Game

Having skin in the game means you have a personal stake in the
outcome. It means you are a stakeholder. When it comes to the survival
of humanity and the planet, we all have skin in the game as we and
our loved ones are in the world that is under threat. We are not outside
looking in. We are part of the global system and there’s a good chance
that we are each, in our own way, part of the problem. This gives us a
quite different stance than is typically expected. Evaluators are virtually
always outside the programmes or projects they evaluate. Acknowledging
and facing the realities of the need for major systems changes transform
the position of evaluators from external observers of change to internal
participants in change.
Traditionally, the evaluator’s credibility flows from independence and
neutrality. Evaluation for transformation changes the evaluator’s role
and credibility, based on interdependence and being involved. There is
no external, independence stance in a pandemic. Everyone is affected.
Everyone has a stake, including evaluators. We are facing immense global
challenges rooted in the legacies of colonialism and white supremacy.
Extractive and exploitative practices have led to deep inequalities based
on race, geography, class, gender, and many more divisions and also a
rapidly changing climate that threatens biodiversity and humanity itself.
What, then, is the role of evaluation in addressing these challenges? It
begins with a recognition that evaluation is not (and has never been)
value-neutral.
Eminent evaluation scholar Robert Stake (2004) published a provoca-
tive article that asked: ‘How Far Dare an Evaluator Go Toward Saving
the World?’. His question raised the issue of what role evaluators’ values
play in the design and conduct of evaluations. Facilitating clarification
26 M. Q. Patton

of intended users’ values as a foundation for designing and enhancing

use of evaluations is a central feature of utilisation-focused evaluation. A
second dimension of valuing concerns what role evaluators’ values play. A
third dimension concerns how values adopted by the evaluation profes-
sion are brought into the design of evaluations as discussed earlier. We all
have a stake in a more just and sustainable world. Bob Stake asked how
far an evaluator dare go towards saving the world. A broadening of that
question in the context of our current pandemic and climate emergen-
cies becomes: how far dare we, collectively, as an evaluation profession
go in changing the world? Are we prepared to transform evaluation to
play our role in evaluating transformation? (Patton, 2021b).

Five Principles For Evaluation Agility

1. Timely data rules. Channel a sense of urgency into thinking prag-
matically and creatively about what data can be gathered quickly and
provided to evaluation users to help them know what’s happening,
what’s emerging, how needs are changing, and consider options going
forward. At the same time help them document the changes in
implementation they are making as a result of the crisis—and the
implications and results of those changes. You may be able to gather
data and provide feedback about perceptions of the crisis and its
implications, finding out how much those affected are on the same
page in terms of message and response. That’s what developmental
evaluators do.
2. Be adaptable. Expect change. Programme goals may appropri-
ately change. Measures of effectiveness may change. Target popula-
tions may change. Implementation protocols may change. Outcome
measures may change. This means that evaluation designs, data
collection, reporting timelines, and criteria will and should change.
Intended uses and even intended users may change. Expect change.
Facilitate change. Document changes and their implications. That’s
your job in a crisis, not to go on in a comfortable business-as-usual
mindset. There is no business as usual now. And if you don’t see
programme adaptation, consider pushing for it by presenting options
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the
collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the
individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the
United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in
the United States and you are located in the United States, we do
not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing,
performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the
work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of
course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™
mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely
sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name
associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of
this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its
attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without
charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also
govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most
countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the
United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms
of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying,
performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this
work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes
no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in
any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other

immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must
appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™
work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or
with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is
accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived

from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a
notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright
holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the
United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must
comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through
1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted

with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted
with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of
this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project

Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a
part of this work or any other work associated with Project
Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this

electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form,
including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you
provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work
in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in
the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,

performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing

access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the
method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The
fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark,
but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty
payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on
which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your
periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked
as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information
about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation.”

• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who

notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that
s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
 copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and
discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project
Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of

any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in
the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90
days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™

electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend

considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe
and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating
the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may
be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to,
incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a
copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or
damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except

for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph
1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner
of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party
distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this
agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and
expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO
REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF
WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE
FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY
DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE
TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL,
PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE
NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you

discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it,
you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by
sending a written explanation to the person you received the work
from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must
return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity
that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a
replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work
electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to
give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in
lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may
demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the
problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in
paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied

warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted
by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the
Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the
Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any
volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability,
costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or
indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur:
(a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b)
alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project
Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of

Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.
It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and
donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the

assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a
secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help,
see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project

Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,

Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to

the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without
widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can
be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the
widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small
donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax
exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating

charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and
keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in
locations where we have not received written confirmation of
compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of
compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where

we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no
prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in
such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make

any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of
other ways including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project

Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed

editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,

including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how
to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.